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Cartridge bodies... less is more?

Curious what the collected experience of this group is in regards to cartridge bodies. I've seen aftermarket bodies available for the Denon 103 and yet when looking at Andy Kim's Needle Clinic website, I noticed he has a "body modification" service available that opens the cartridge up a bit by removing parts of the stock body. The claim is that this is better than an aftermarket body as he feels no body at all is best since they just serve to function as a equalizer. I can't fault that line of thinking.

I have a Benz Glider that I'd like to get repaired one day and for shits and giggles, I searched and found there is a wood body available out there ($90 for the one I found). Of course I'm wondering if this might be akin to a more expensive, wood bodied Benz - assuming those are actually better than the less expensive and naked Glider. 

Any thoughts? Anyone with experience with both naked and wood bodied Benz's?

voolston
jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,249 posts
 

I recommend not wasting money on a wood body for the Denon 103. A better upgrade would be to install a line-contact stylus for superior detail retrieval. The 103 generator is already real good!

jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,249 posts
 

I'd put a Denon 103 with a line-contact stylus up against any four-figure mc cartridge!

danmar123's avatar
danmar123
457 posts
 

I purchased an 103R with a broken cantilever & had Steve from VAS rebuild it with the Baron & Micro combo on a rosewood body, & the sound is similar to my Otho Cadenza Black. Which is 4x the price.

jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,249 posts
 

Throw away that high-ouput Glider and get a Denon 103 with a line-contact stylus. For the money it can't be beat! You may need a headamp or SUT for the .35 millivolt output of the 103 if your phono stage doesn't have the higher gain needed (60db).

timeltel's avatar
timeltel
830 posts
 

Regards, voolston:

Apples CAN  be compared to oranges, or, bananas to broccoli. May I suggest  there are varying degrees of harmonics, smearing and ringing relative to the materials present from stylus to turntable?

It may be a stretch but the proposition that performance, either heard or measured, is identical relative to the implementation of ceramic, wood, magnesium (or whatever material) introduced in proximity to the cartridge's generator might be questionable.

If you wish, take a moment and visit:

http://korfaudio.com/blog62

where headshells are evaluated relative to the above considerations. Interesting stuff. I've done three "garage built" cartridge conversions to wood body, an AT, a Shure and an Acutex. It made a difference. Lacking the ability to measure performance, wether or not an improvement may depend on the priorities of the listener.

 

Peace,

 

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